Settle into where you're sitting or lying down.
Roll your neck and shoulders back and down.
Nod your head side to side gently.
Let your jaw loosen.
Relax your face,
Eyes,
Lips,
And forehead.
Take a deep breath in as deep as you can into your belly and hold.
Then let it out.
Take one more deep breath in,
Hold,
And let it out.
Now imagine you're in a safe,
Comfortable room,
A room you love.
Spend a moment to picture what it looks like.
Maybe there's carpet or wood floors,
Maybe a beautiful old rug.
There may be furniture,
A couch or a bed,
Perhaps a big cozy chair and a blanket by a window.
As you create this beautiful,
Special room,
Settle into it until you're very comfortable.
You're spending time in your room,
Enjoying all that's in it.
When you hear a knock on the door,
At first it's quiet and soft,
But then it gets louder.
You unwrap yourself from your cozy spot in your room to answer the door.
As you arrive at the door,
You first listen to hear who or what might be outside,
But all you hear is knocking.
You slowly and cautiously remove the lock,
Crack open the door just enough to see who's on the other side.
When you get the door open,
You realize it's an emotion.
It's the emotion you've been feeling most in the past few days and weeks,
And it's right there in front of you,
Looking into your eyes.
What emotion is standing outside your door right now?
Take a moment and place a name on it.
The thing that catches you in the morning,
The one that grips your heart and jaw as you're trying to sleep,
The one that takes your mind to places it doesn't want to go.
Now visualize what this emotion looks like physically.
How big or small is it?
What's its shape?
Does it have a scent?
What color is it?
As your emotion takes shape and form,
It's still outside the door to your special room.
You're still holding the door open and you notice your desire to shut the door,
To go back to your cozy chair or bed and leave your emotion outside.
Instead,
You look curiously at this emotion that's standing in front of you in full color and size and taste and smell,
And you wonder what would happen if you let it in.
You step backward and open the door wide enough to let the emotion inside your special beautiful room.
There's a part of you that wants to retreat to the corner and leave it there by the door because you don't want to get too close.
Yet today,
You decide to take its hand and invite it to sit with you very close.
You're surprised that it's less scary and uncomfortable and ugly than you had imagined it would be to get this close.
You take a very deep breath and let it out,
Letting out any last feelings of discomfort with your emotion sitting next to you.
As you sit with it,
You can tell your emotion wants to say something to you.
It looks vulnerable and childlike and whispers to you,
I'm here for you,
Not to be against you.
You ponder this for a moment,
Wondering what your emotion means,
That it's here for you.
Over time,
You realize that your emotion is a gift you've been closing the door on.
You realize this emotion that seemed scary and unwelcome and painful is right outside the door to bring you closer to yourself.
It tells you it's okay to sit in quiet with it.
Your emotion invites you to explore it,
Ask it what it can teach you,
Not to dread it and keep it locked outside.
Now you look closely at your emotion and notice that it's not a solid object anymore.
You can almost see right through it.
And as you lean closer toward it,
You realize you can wave your hand and it passes right through.
The air around it smells almost sweet and you see twinkling light beam through it onto the floor near your feet.
It lights up your special room in a way you've never noticed before.
You stay there for a few seconds longer,
Breathing in the sweetness and calm.
You realize you can open the door to your special room no matter what emotion is standing outside.
No matter how scary it might look,
Once you invite it in and ask it what it can teach you,
It turns sweet and harmless.
You spend a little time thinking this current emotion for visiting,
For allowing you to examine it and learn from it.
You take the lesson and tuck it into your heart space,
Knowing it will be there with you whenever you need it.
Then you get up from your cozy place,
Look around your beautiful room and go to the door.
You take two deep breaths before you gently open it and come back to the room you're in.
Yes.
